


nepotism

by soulshrapnel



Series: Villainous Kinktober fills 2020 [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: BDSM, Multi, chicks dig darth vader, newbie kinksters making disastrous life choices, parasocial relationships, silliness, the assigned kink doesn't actually happen in this one but it's prominently discussed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:42:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26901595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulshrapnel/pseuds/soulshrapnel
Summary: Newly minted stormtrooper EB-702 would like a berth on theExecutor,and she has entirely the wrong idea about how to get one.(Kinktober, Day 8: Casting Couch)
Relationships: Darth Vader/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Wilhuff Tarkin/Darth Vader (referenced only)
Series: Villainous Kinktober fills 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947379
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16
Collections: Kinktober 2020





	nepotism

**Author's Note:**

> man, day 8 was another day where I spent a while staring at the three kink options and being like "...none? none of these? how about none kink with left beef." (which is totally on me because I didn't make my own customized kink list of only things I like, I _chose_ to throw myself to the wolves this way, I prefer it)
> 
> But then I was like, "You know, if I wasn't me, and I only knew me from my fanfic, I'd probably _assume_ I was into casting couch stories. Like, given everything else, it's pretty illogical that I wouldn't be. Maybe if I interpreted it more broadly."
> 
> so then 20 minutes of free association later I had this not-quite-casting-couch silliness plotted out after all.
> 
> This isn't officially a part of "Playing With Fire," but it's based on the same premises - particularly, on the idea that Darth Vader goes to a kink dungeon every once in a while.

The Outer Rim's BDSM community valued discretion. Outside of an actual criminal investigation, nobody was supposed to mention each other's names or ranks or other identifying information without express consent. But rumors had a way of going round anyway, unofficially. Which was why every seasoned kinkster in the sector knew that the Shadow Club was where Darth Vader played.

Vanja had been a regular at the Shadow Club for the last year or two, and she had seen Lord Vader there once or twice. Honestly, most people made too big a deal out of him being there. All sorts of famous people were secretly into kink, not just him, and besides, she'd heard he was bad at it. Vader had never permanently harmed anyone on club property, but he was the kind of top who threw his weight around, under-negotiated, and forgot that his partners existed three seconds after the end of the scene. That was the rumor, anyway. Vanja wasn't into men, nor into submitting, so she'd never really asked around about the details.

She was beginning to wish she'd looked into it now, though, as she sat with her pumpkin spice caf in hand at the weekly munch - a casual gathering located at a classy café, not at the club itself - and listened to Ebareen.

"So it's true?" Ebareen whispered, her brown eyes very wide. "That Darth-"

"Ssh," another member of the group scolded. "No names."

Ebareen was twenty and human and blonde and had only just finished stormtrooper training at the Academy. Now she was on a few weeks of celebratory leave before her first assignment, which might last years, and she intended to spend those weeks running wild as new graduates tended to. Her muscles were newly taut and strong under her thin tunic, and her hair was cropped close to her scalp. She had recently decided that she must be submissive because she read a holobook about it. Vanja, an experienced and worldly-wise Zygerrian of twenty-two, had known Ebareen since their school days, and she felt a duty to try to protect her.

She leaned in so they could keep their voices down. "Famous people come to the Shadow Club, yeah. But you have to be careful. They're not always what you hope they'll be."

"I want to play with him," Ebareen said.

Vanja's clawed fingers twitched around her mug of caf. "I really don't think that's a good idea."

"I've heard _stories_ about him. From the other troopers. He can cut a hundred Rebels down with one swing of his sword. He can throw a whole TIE fighter through the air with just his mind. He can read minds, so he's always fair. And if an officer gets out of line and starts hurting his favorite troopers-" She made a choking gesture around her neck with one hand, grinning widely.

Vanja's ears flattened. "Yeah sure, he's great, but that's not the same as _vetting._ I hear he's pretty unfriendly-"

" _And,_ " Ebareen continued, "he does have favorites. I heard about him and Grand Moff Tarkin. Everybody wondered why they got along so well, when he hates most of the officers, but it turns out they're..." She grinned again, a flush rising to her cheeks. "You know. So if I can make a good impression-"

Vanja's fur bristled in horror as she realized the full extent of what Ebareen was planning.

"That," she said flatly, "is a terrible idea."

"No it isn't!"

"And it won't work."

"Yes it will!"

They argued about it for the whole rest of the munch, until an older attendee told them both to shut up.

*

Vader was used to heads turning when he walked into the room. Usually they turned in _fear,_ but at the Shadow Club, things were different.

He had discovered this place, years ago, through a complicated series of coincidences, some careful investigations on his own, and an extremely awkward conversation with the proprietress. The main room was dark but clean, with leather couches and a bar area where patrons could socialize, and a large empty floor space lined with different stations - structures that people could be tied to, places where they could be bent over and hit, right in front of everyone. There were also private rooms on the upper floor. There were usually a small crowd of people here, some naked or wearing very elaborate leather, but others in what looked to Vader like normal clothes for a romantic evening out. They ran the full range of genders, species, and body types.

A place like this had a certain _ambience_ in the Force. Pleasure and pain, fear and desire, blended together uniquely in the air. That was the point even for non-Force-sensitive patrons, but to Vader it was something he could practically taste, as real to his senses as the jizz music that played over the speakers. His old self would have shied away from a place like this, but Vader's life these days was almost nothing but pain, and it soothed him to remind himself that some people enjoyed that. On his earliest visits, he hadn't tried to play at all - just sat on one of those couches, people-watched, drank it in.

He had discovered, since then, that the Force gave him certain advantages here - and that some people were all too eager for his attention.

Still, he was mildly surprised when, as soon as he walked into the room, a girl fell to her knees in front of him.

Vader looked the girl up and down. She was young, but strong, and not bad looking; she'd worn a short and flattering black dress. Her back was straight like a soldier's, but she was very forward. Vader hadn't even had a chance to get his bearings and see who else was here. But he didn't tend to be picky - he came here to blow off steam and distract himself from work, not to get to know individuals - and he liked when they knelt.

For several seconds, the girl didn't speak, only looked at him beseechingly.

"What do you desire?" Vader asked her.

People often expected Vader to read their minds more accurately than he actually could. He could tell what people were feeling, but he couldn't intuit all the details of their fantasies just by looking. It irritated him when they expected him to. This girl would need to use her words.

He studied her mind. It wasn't a very strong mind, but it was alert and unimpaired. It glowed with a familiar mix of emotions: starstruck admiration, nervousness, lust, hope. Except that there was something else. Something deeper down, a different motive, but he couldn't feel it clearly enough to identify it. Strange.

The girl stammered a little, tongue-tied. "I... I want to let you have your way with me, Lord Vader. Please. In... in private, though."

That was maddeningly vague - nothing he hadn't already worked out from the emotions in her mind. He could tell it aroused her just to make herself say the words to his masked face. That kind of thing, the mix of fear and need, was pleasant.

But there was the matter of that other desire, the hidden one.

"We are not finished negotiating," Vader said, making a snap decision. "But you will follow me."

He turned on his heel and strode up the stairs without waiting for a response. He didn't look back to see if she followed him, but he could feel it when she did.

*

The door shut behind them. Vader had gone for the first available room, not really caring which implements were stored inside. This one had an X-shaped metal cross with cuffs hanging off of it, but Vader didn't plan to use them. Usually, the Force was enough.

"Now," he said, turning to the girl, "you will tell me why you are really here."

She looked bewildered. "But I told you that already."

Vader took a step forward, looming over her. If this was something harmless, he would find out soon enough, and a girl like her would probably enjoy the brief interrogation. But if was worse than that, he _needed_ to know. Just because the Shadow Club was discreet, that didn't place it out of reach of Vader's many enemies.

"Perhaps you are unfamiliar with my powers. I can feel your mind. You wish me to use you for pleasure - that was the truth. But you are here for another reason as well. Something more... practical." Another step, backing her into the wall. "I do not like when people hide their true intentions. You will tell me now, or you will leave."

"Oh." Her eyes got very big, and she radiated terror for a moment before seeming to realize what he was talking about. She started to stammer very quickly. "Oh, that, th-thats nothing, Lord Vader. Just a thought that I had. I knew it might not really happen, but I was thinking it, that's all. You see, I just finished my stormtrooper training. I passed with top marks! My operating number is EB-702. I'm deploying next week. And, I- I thought maybe, if you liked me, you might want to get me a post on the _Executor._ "

Vader looked at her, all of his brief interest vanishing.

There was nepotism of all kinds in the Empire, of course, even this sort. But Vader did not like it. He wanted the officers who could actually do their jobs on his ship, not the ones who happened to be the right person's lover or cousin or son. It was one of the reasons why he killed them so often. He had no need to treat the troopers that way, but he knew there were petty forms of nepotism among them, too.

"Do you think," Vader said, letting his voice drop menacingly, "that such an arrangement would interest me?"

If _that_ was what people thought of him, if it was spoken about even by stormtrooper cadets, perhaps he had been coming here too often.

"I don't see why it wouldn't," said EB-702. "If you liked me. There's always time between engagements on a ship like that; maybe you'd like to have something pleasant to do. I heard that that was what was going on with you and Grand Moff Tarkin-"

But _that_ was the wrong name to mention at a time like this.

Before he could stop himself, Vader raised his hand-

*

"-And then he threw me across the room!" Ebareen said, in the delighted tones of someone who'd had a harrowing close encounter with a divine being. "Right out the door and into the hall! I hit the door on the other side."

All the other people at the munch had leaned in and were listening raptly, abandoning the pretense of not naming names, as they always did when someone had a really good Vader story.

"I thought you said he closed the door," said a young Rodian man.

"He opened it for me!"

"You could have been hurt," Vanja objected. "Did you hit your head?"

"No, that's the funny thing. I thought I was flying through the air so fast, but he must have slowed me down right before impact. I didn't even bruise." She put her chin in her hands and looked into the distance with a happy sigh.

Admittedly, that kind of control was a little attractive even to Vanja. But she still didn't like this. "See, this is what I mean about _vetting,_ Eb. He threw you into a wall because he didn't like what you were saying. That wasn't a negotiated kink scene. That was him being a _bad person._ Just because they let him into the club doesn't mean he's safe."

Ebareen pulled down the back of her blouse to show her unmarred shoulder. It was a _really_ pretty shoulder, which made everything worse. "But I'm not even hurt, look!"

Vanja's ears had turned back and flattened to her head in frustration. "Why do you like him? What did you even think he could do for you, besides getting you a berth? Did you just want him to throw you around and choke you? Anybody could throw you around and choke you. _I_ could throw you around and-"

Ebareen didn't have the kind of ears that perked, but she blinked and was suddenly looking straight at Vanja, her eyes wide and eager. "Really?"

Oh.

Okay.

Vanja grabbed Ebareen's hand, the small claws of her fingernails digging possessively in. "You bet I could."

Ebareen gave her a wide, bright smile.

**Author's Note:**

> In case it's not obvious, the whole Daaé Leìra comic never happened in this continuity. This kind of shit just keeps happening instead.


End file.
